The Greatest Wine Forger- Rudy Kurniawan

The greatest wine fraudster in history, Rudy Kurniawan, conned fine wine lovers out of tens of millions of dollars by producing copycat counterfeit wine, of the world’s rarest Grand Cru wines in his Los Angeles kitchen.
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[@elissachapman6189]

He got caught because he produced vintages that didn't exist and magnums that were never made. I don't get how he could have been so meticulous with other details but not with these ones! Surely these would be the easiest details to get right, and the easiest mistakes for others to spot

[@dakotastephen5273]

Instablaster

[@pepelepew1227]

only the manufacturers who keep old production records knew. before the digital era, paper records are kept maybe 3 5 7 years for tax reasons and would have disintegrated by the next generation. his crime spree would have been short had those kind of information been easily obtained. nonetheless his talent lies in the palette that reformulated fake wines - one that wont get him anywhere near wealthy status.

[@slipherthevic3910]

@@pepelepew1227 the palate thing is bs. Plenty of studies have debunked that. Sommeliers are charlatans

[@pepelepew1227]

@@slipherthevic3910 use some logic to discern nonsensical studies.

[@Simon-nv5zj]

@@slipherthevic3910 please cite said studies

[@deepsweech]

The fact that he can reproduce vintage wine tastes with cheap ones just means the vintage ones are over rated, over priced. He just proved that the whole vintage thing is a sham.

[@andydevinewine]

This comment just shows lack of knowledge. The original has been created through man hours, they are the best. Its the same as dupe perfume. The original has shouldered the cost of research, development etc. The forger comes along, with understanding and the finished product then reverse engineers for a fractio. Of the cost

[@bleudiamonds]

I'm highly annoyed but fascinated at the same time

[@muhammadrikykhoirudin2894]

me too, he is just genius

[@zes3813]

wrggg

[@artyzinn7725]

That he could imitate the taste of extremely expensive wines [ ~$20,000/bottle] by mixing cheaper wines together has great value. This means the taste of great bottles can be imitated for the 'rest of us', by blending. There is genius behind that. Granted it may not work all the time, the Burgundy group found that out 34:00 but it worked half the time to fool these experts, and even connoisseurs 29:43. He could become the "John Myatt" of the wine world, as John is for the painting world. What the video doesn't emphasize is he had to have substantial capital to start his forgery business: he had to learn the trade, get into cliques, build relationships, bid for wines to test and serve as models to copy, etc., before the payback. It means he had means to begin with that were substantial, whether that money was eventually going to dry up or he was greedy, would make a good Part II, a prequel.

[@musiclover6842]

They docu says not much is known about his past except that he was already wealthy to begin with

[@artyzinn7725]

@@musiclover6842 if you google his name or search the comments here, he comes from a family of unsavory business people

[@whiskyboi312]

Well considering how most who opened and tried a bunch could tell they were fake, I don't think Rudy was as skilled as I thought he appeared.

[@muklisardiansyah5146]

His uncle, Edi Tansil is the biggest corruptor in Indonesia

[@Indoboy88]

No , the biggest kambing hitam 😂😂😂, koruptornya soehaeto

[@Indoboy88]

Edi Tansil is blackship

[@Iiamli007]

​@@Indoboy88 EDDY TANZIL IS THE REAL WORST CORRUPTOR!!! There are already a doc that prove it and he is in The Mainland runs his new biz funded by the money he stole from Indonesia.

[@Whigu]

I watched TV document about him many years ago and that hopefully showed how much on wine is show and how much there is actual reality. So many people need to know reviews of wine before they can tell do they like it or not.

[@whiskyboi312]

It's honestly crazy to see this and think how Rudy could've actually been an amazing winery manager and blender, but instead had his fixations on greed ruined possibly a small chance of him maybe having a successful career in wine.

[@srkbear1]

I respect his choice by far over the intolerable pretension of being a wine “connoisseur”. I watched the American Greed piece on this forgery, and after twenty minutes of listening to all these expert noses getting the vapors over his unthinkable deed-“disrespecting the wines”-I couldn’t have been more thrilled that he had the ingenuity to poke a bunch of holes in their “expertise” and refined tastes. How delicious is it that it only took him a few years to figure out how to pull the rug out from under their charade, with only a cheap printer, some tea bags and the right mixture of discount vino? He flattered their egos and ran off with their trust funds. I wouldn’t have the guts to dare try do what he did myself, but boy am I glad that somebody finally did-he give me schadenfreude to savor for weeks!

[@alfred2018]

​@@srkbear1 What can you say, Rudi Kurniawan is a nephew of one of the biggest Indonesian corrupt businessman, Eddy Tansil. Lying is their innate skill, it runs deep in their genes.

[@louisn1368]

@@srkbear1how do you say I’m a wine snob in French? Suck le bleu I ammah wine snoobb

[@taotzu1339]

No doubt he would have been an incredible master blender in both wine and hard liquor, but he would not have gotten rich being someone else's b.

[@CharlesRaines4946]

Who know's if Rudy is on the straight and narrow or if he is scamming wine collectors in Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand or yhe Philippines?

[@tony001212]

the worst part abour forgerers is that they do not know how to stop, he could have stopped when he sold his first bodega and scape with all that money but as I said above this kind of people don't know how to stop.

[@louisn1368]

You’re acting like you have never heard of greed at one point or another it becomes like a fulfilling job

[@lisaj2269]

I love wine forgers. Awful people ripping off awful people. The marriage of immoral avarice with vain, empty, meaningless status seeking… monsters eating each other

[@ytnthr1]

Love to the subtle taste of mirroring

[@Kryptkeeper911]

Gotta respect the greats of anything

[@joemontano71]

Rudy was not a great forger - people who know wine spotted him early-on in his dubious career - gathering evidence and building a case took time.

[@Kryptkeeper911]

Never said great for wine forging

[@desisaronsaraswatihidayat1520]

His brother is also a corruptor in Indonesia.

[@andribratakusuma9258]

Siapee mbaa??

[@frans2740]

Dar ?

[@andribratakusuma9258]

@@frans2740 eddy tansil

[@frans2740]

Eddy Tansil itu pamannya. Desi Saron bilang his brother (saudara laki Rudy Kurniawan). Bukan his uncle.

[@deguzel9059]

nephew not brother

[@silo3com]

Bad ass

[@henrygod514]

Very good documentary!!

[@apollobrown6568]

based on Sour Grabes... that one will impresse you.

[@Simon-nv5zj]

I dont feel anything for the rich wine snobs who bought the fake wine. I do however feel sorry for the producer/s of whos wines were forged.

[@Last_Chance.]

I agree

[@FullThrottleRacing535]

Why dont you feel bad for the buyers

[@SamWesting]

@@FullThrottleRacing535 Most (not all) of these connoisseurs use their rarefied access to the most expensive wines to flaunt their “F-- You” money to the world.

[@remery71]

Great comment, 20 years in the wine industry, wine as a social status is never enjoyed as much as when surrounded by those you love. Much love from Western Australia home of the Margaret River.

[@Simon-nv5zj]

@@remery71 Margaret river is a fantastic spot!

[@hectorherbert6585]

These 'wine people' using the name 'Burgundy' is in itself a scam...there is no such thing as an American Burgundy wine...Bourgogne is in France ,period.

[@louisn1368]

You sound like a wine snob there’s alot not scotch in Scotland want to express that too

[@maxalexander31]

These 'wine people' are talking about Burgundian wines, not American wines. I would imagine that 99%+, if not all of the wines faked by Rudy were Old World, specifically Burgundian labels.

[@Easet_shad]

Обворовывать толтосумом это благое дело. Так что Руди Курниаван это современный Робин Гуд

[@KippysNippys]

Bro… Stop.

[@dvorok]

He could have probably got away with MadDog 20/20. At $4.95 a bottle none would ever question it. Get greedy. Get caught.

[@conradkenneth5216]

Greetings from the international space station?

[@spideywhiplash]

Greetings Space Man

[@markw5805]

When he gets out he can make a fortune by recreating wines for the average public. I just don’t think he had this grand plan…I think he got over his head and saw an opportunity to fund his financial life jacket.

[@onkarmane8760]

That Kyle smith guy seems really hurt 😔

[@winengkusasmito4366]

The Tansil Family Tycoon, Fraud and Corruption are their business.

[@rewindproject1617]

Rudi masih keluarga Tanzil?

[@winengkusasmito4366]

@@rewindproject1617 masih, keponakannya. CMIIW

[@-manwhoknowsmuch6159]

Снег зимой красивый!

[@deguzel9059]

he's the nephew of the biggest corruptor in Indonesia

[@hanzhewan1137]

the fact that Laurent Ponsot himself spent all his effort learning about how to forge his wine means nobody can stop him if he decides to forge some himself XD

[@yuqing2006]

Playing with fires. He deliberately try to sell rare ones that didn't exist.

[@morganjennings3164]

Perfect!

[@buckodonnghaile4309]

We built a house for the owner of an award winning Canadian winery and he gifted us a case of his plonk. It reminded me of a gas siphoning mishap i experienced as a kid. My palette may be poor or perhaps those who hand out awards are in on the racket.

[@amandahugenkiss]

Petrol smells are used linked to wine being stored improperly. Sounds like he gave you a batch that was exposed to sun light.

[@moustik31]

I wish, he would have sold his dupes openly!

[@evansflammond6594]

Rock on Rudy you just proved that in the wine society's that there all just wannabees...trying to be kool 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@devenbaker]

All thanks to Ponsot getting the ball rolling on this

[@sibin3732]

Ini ponakannya Edi Tansil, Edi sendri kabur ke China dan di sana bermasalah juga, perusahaannya ditutup pemerintah

[@pericopalotes4848]

He only IS jail because the rich people he scamed they did make sure off It. Great scam .

[@Simon-nv5zj]

english speak any you do?

[@pericopalotes4848]

@@Simon-nv5zj yeah i speak 4 languajes ....not like you thick english ,barely can speak one languaje

[@Simon-nv5zj]

@@pericopalotes4848 well, English certainly is not one of them.

[@pericopalotes4848]

@@Simon-nv5zj ok whatever ,do you think that i care about your opinión? Have a nice day

[@Simon-nv5zj]

@@pericopalotes4848 i mean yeah you obviously do otherwise you would not have replied

[@KINGPHANTOMw85]

Which begs the question. What is WORTH

[@hectorherbert6585]

Having known some of these kind of characters in NY through Art Galleries & high end catering..,I don't understand how any of these guys could impress and fool sane/normal people...they were bozos with tons of cash , really... flying really low on zero IQ or charisma.spending their family"s wealth.....incredible.

[@srkbear1]

I have infinitely more respect for this fraudster than I do for the highbrow, soulless self-described aesthetes who gather for these ostentatious rituals and lionize each other for having such refined noses. They are so far up their own asses with unearned pretentiousness that even they don’t get the irony that this savvy young kid (with true talent, however fraudulently he used it) figured out how to poke holes in their expert tastes and run off with their trust funds in the course of a few years-with only a cheap printer, some tea bags, and a mix of cheap wines. He’s the savant who could tell a grape, year, winery and vintage from a single sip-while they got bamboozled by a price tag. He’s the true aesthete, and they’re the real frauds!

[@imamramadhan8712]

This fraud incident is embarrassing for Indonesia..because his family is famous for fraud that has reached the international level.

[@musiclover6842]

So this is how he became wealthy really? Did his family scam also with Wine or something else?

[@user-yn9rz5kx2u]

@@musiclover6842 As far as I know, his uncle is a legendary corruptor in Indonesia

[@peterbradshaw8018]

Just found a book entitled In Vino Duplicitas.

[@Easet_shad]

Обворовывать толтосумом это благое дело. Так что Руди Курниаван это современный Робин Гуд

[@hectorherbert6585]

the cork could be a big giveaway in term of age.

[@peterbradshaw8018]

Any books on the issue. .Any documentary on Knoedler Art gallery fraud.

[@stephanclemens2348]

Robbie Coltrane would hve made a decent Kyle Smith in the movie. Hollywood: Where are you?

[@susantumblety6003]

Too bad they destroyed thousands of his bottles, they could've wrote his name on all of them and had a second life. After all ,he was an amazing wine maker

[@bradhombre6912]

Probably could have sold them and given the proceeds to the victims.

[@tomschmitt6911]

how did the wine not go flat after opening multiple wines and mixing them together in new bottle?

[@Breavis]

wine doesn't go flat like beer, lol.

[@raihanandika6908]

Well that bad but cool

[@HumanityJourney]

Pity about the annoying and distracting music from an otherwise very well-made documentary.

[@1partsunknown]

Why didn't he just make his own wines by mixing others. That's not criminal.

[@bradhombre6912]

Maybe that wasn’t exciting enough for him?

[@stGamblor]

Victimless crime

[@daraa151]

Yeah he only give rich what they wanted

[@chrisgay9623]

"astronomical amount of bottles"? What 12-year-old wrote this script?

[@SonOvaSon]

U

[@wustachemax]

I believe it was Joe.

[@taratabor]

SPY !

[@becky6061]

Hi! Are we allowed to use footage from this?

[@isaacwolfe5986]

You could counterfeit it like a fine wine

[@glanyan5462]

Ugh, can you show more close-up partials... where we see part of a face, bottle, or whatever. Terrible camera work. Watch 'Sour Grapes' over this.

[@davidkosa]

I can see it now. Kurniawan labelled wines that are blended for a specific region or style. I would buy a bottle.

[@Nick1994H]

Elmer's Glue was found on a bottle claiming to be from 1898. Elmer's Glue didn't come out until the 1970s

[@ptg01]

He is obviously very talented but sadly, did not put it to good , ethical use.

[@forresthillboy]

At 33.01, the French speaking expert says something about DRC, which is mistranslated as being one of the "largest" Burgundy estates, when it must be that he says it is one of the greatest estates, is somewhat of a major error, otherwise an interesting episode... the French term Grande has been poorly translated in this instance...

[@austinpowers8550]

How is he great? He didn't even research what years certain vintages came out. That's a rookie move and doesn't scream intelligence.

[@Last_Chance.]

Do behave

[@ananaofficial8659]

Tikus cina di indonesia

[@jingkun72]

He should have started his own labels. Why pretend to be something else?

[@Last_Chance.]

There's more to it than that bro

[@ivansentosa7699]

He's gettin greedy

[@ademulyono6360]

Dead row

[@DLabuanbajo9555]

this the first time I proud to be Indonesian, because we were colonized by western people about 350 years and now only 1 person of Indonesian Rudy is able to trick so much western people. I cannot imagine what can be done by us millions of Indonesian people to western people. lol !

[@fukpoeslaw3613]

well I'm Dutch and Rudy totally forgot to scam me, soooo......

[@fukpoeslaw3613]

also, I want Papua new Guinea back.🤣

[@EmeraldWoodArchives]

Well, you see, he was already rich with embezzled funds from his uncles. Also, I guess you've never heard of Hargobind Punjabi Tahilramani, the "Hollywood Con Queen"? Great guy. Yeah, good luck with all that shit.

[@tobz475]

Actually indonesian leaders betray their own people during colonial period. Thats why indonesian not speaking dutch cause VOC just met the leaders.

[@PJSinohin]

OFFSTAGE HANG brought me here

[@vanharveyvictorino]

haha ako din!

[@betteryoubetter]

Joe Rogan got me here! "Modest house"????....entire story of a bunch of douche bags complaining about being "had" by a fellow douche bag....Rudy?? Good salesman; knows his customer. When dealing with people with more money than sense...douche it up!

[@Last_Chance.]

We were all wondering what brought you here, thank God you informed us. The suspense was absolutely insane. Smh...

[@wustachemax]

@@Last_Chance. Lmao

[@clemclemson9259]

@@Last_Chance. lol i never knew how many dick heads were out there till i look at you tube comments! great comment!

[@bim360]

Rogan sent me here.

[@ggss1176]

me too

[@dickypcp7732]

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 we are genius

[@user-pi6vz5hr3c]

Commercial wine companies put sulfates in wine to speed up the fermentation process to sell cheap wine, and this guy is scam artist. 🤣🤣🤣

[@hermanhorst6914]

That’s not how winemaking works

[@danielplainview4778]

Basically all the top ranked wine producers in the world regardless of production size use added sulphates… you sound like someone who knows nothing of wine or how it is produced

[@felixjones9198]

Potassium metabisulphate is added as a preservative/antioxidant and actually inhibits fermentation. I once had a 3000 litre tank of Chardonnay go off so quickly it had almost completely fermented by the time I got back from a night out- it was an insulated tank though. Temperature is the main thing that affects the speed of fermentation. Sulphites got nothing to do with it. They generally aren't added until the ferment is finished.

[@user-fv1nn6zi3o]

Rudi from china !

[@Weston777]

He’s getting out soon!!! 😃

[@ryanhallyyc]

He was deported to Indonesia last year

[@deemz312]

Wine enthusiasts are so cringe

[@hectorherbert6585]

great doc but poor narrator..very few female narrators can do the job for crime docs ,and I can't even think of one now...

[@srkbear1]

I’ll just set aside your preposterous sexism and mention Susan Sarandon for one. Not sure what about crime necessitates a man’s voice to “do the job” of narrating these stories but I sure hope you’re single.

[@charcoalanderson8010]

❤️

[@sueknoll8567]

I think wine is nasty tasting anyway, if you are paying over $5 per bottle you are getting scammed.

[@paulerdosdaughter]

🙄

[@sweetstorm7652]

Oh my dear you haven’t had great wine have you? $5 is too low, even box wine is not so cheap.

[@leelee287]

About 9 years ago my buddies and I went on a vacation and all chipped in and bought a 600 dollar bottle of wine . And it tasted like a horses ass !!

[@1013VS]

@@leelee287 how would you know what a horses ass tastes like .... Questionable... Lol all jokes aside wine is highly subjective compared to other spirits.

[@Simon-nv5zj]

your brothers piss doesnt count for wine Sue

[@stevenloredo3442]

Joe rogan brought me here!

[@Last_Chance.]

We're so happy that you told us that. We were all wondering what brought you here, the suspense was absolutely insane. Its such a relief just knowing how you got here.........smh

[@stevenloredo3442]

@@Last_Chance. omg I’m so happy you commented. I was dying for attention

[@clemclemson9259]

@@Last_Chance. lol awesome!

[@srkbear1]

Well, there’s no accounting for taste, pun intended. You just memorialized yourself on the immortal web as a devotee of one of the biggest morons on the planet. Congrats!

[@dickypcp7732]

Try and learn cheat to us ..

[@TETO-oz1ok]

NO LIKE !! TOO MUCH PROPAGANDA

[@EmeraldWoodArchives]

Bah ha ha.

[@ezragonzalez8936]

he wasn't a genius his buyers were morons! seriously come on he was using modern bottles to "forge" 40s vintage bottles! lol